W hen Boulder-based cyclist Tejay van Garderen won the Tour of California last month, the 24-year-old new dad was heralded by some as American cycling's next big star, and the cycling community began murmuring about whether van Garderen would lead Team BMC at the Tour de France.

But van Garderen's win in California, his first major win since becoming a professional in 2008, wasn't enough to convince BMC leaders to make him their Tour de France commander. Instead, BMC has announced that van Garderen will again support 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans, the 36-year-old Australian veteran for BMC, in the quest to take down Sky, the team favored to win.

Though he's still playing a supporting role this year, that doesn't mean that young van Garderen isn't also gunning for a top spot somewhere on the podium behind Evans. He said he's dreamed about the yellow jersey since he was 9 years old.

"That doesn't mean I'm not allowed to get a result," van Garderen said of supporting Evans during a press conference at the team's media day earlier this season. "We can help each other but that doesn't mean that once the finish line comes I have to hit my brakes and lose five minutes and then cross the line."

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Last year van Garderen won the Tour's white jersey, awarded to the race's best young rider, and took fifth overall. He finished in front of Evans, who finished seventh overall. Last year's overall winner Bradley Wiggins isn't racing this year due to injury, but his Sky teammate and 2012 Tour runner-up Chris Froome is expected by many to be a contender for yellow.

Though van Garderen isn't BMC's designated leader this year, he may become the de facto team leader at some point during the race, depending on what plays out. Often factors beyond racers' control -- like weather or getting behind a bad crash -- actually determine the race, said his father, Marcel van Garderen. Last year, Tejay van Garderen waited for Evans when he got dropped, but this year, Tejay van Garderen said he doesn't think he'll be asked to do that.

With that in mind, many Boulder cyclists say they're strongly behind van Garderen, who finished second at last year's USA Pro Challenge in Colorado.

Boulder-based cyclist and Sanitas Sports founder Barry Lee, who organizes a summer criterium series in Longmont, said he believes Tejay van Garderen has what it takes to finish on the general classification podium, if not win it overall.

Though he's young, Lee said Tejay van Garderen's career trajectory is on the way up, whereas many older cyclists' are on the way down.

"It's great to see young kids take it over," Lee said. "That's a good sign for the sport, a lot of young up-and-comers trying to dominate a lot of the races."

Tejay van Garderen grew up in Bozeman, Mont., winning national road and cyclocross titles as a junior. USA Cycling took notice, and selected van Garderen for the organization's national development program. He rushed to finish high school and tried one semester at Front Range Community College before choosing cycling over school.

He earned a spot on Dutch team Rabobank before moving to the ProTeam level with HTC-Highroad, and then BMC.

His father, Marcel van Garderen, lives in Fort Collins where he works as an architect. Though he rarely gets to see his son because he's traveling constantly and learning how to balance his new family with work, Marcel van Garderen said the added pressure of being a new dad to daughter Rylan shouldn't affect Tejay's cycling performance.

"He's someone who gets really focused when he sets his mind to something," Marcel van Garderen said. "He seems to be able to compartmentalize all that stuff."

Marcel van Garderen coached Tejay when he was a junior, and said he was always amazing at how focused his son could be, even as a kid.

Watching his son at Le Tour for the past two years has been "surreal," said Marcel van Garderen, but he couldn't say he was surprised when his son finished fifth overall last year and was awarded the white jersey.

"It's amazing to see that but I've seen it gradually coming from 15 years ago when he started as a kid," he said. "It's still really exciting."

Even if this isn't Tejay van Garderen's year at the Tour de France, his dad -- and many others -- are betting he wins it at some point in the next few years.

TV cycling commentator Todd Gogulski said once he matures a little bit more, Tejay van Garderen is his favorite to win the yellow jersey. This year, though, Gogulski predicts Tejay van Garderen will win the white jersey for the second year.

Even BMC president and general manager Jim Ochowicz has said that Tejay van Garderen is "making his own mark" on the cycling world. If he stays healthy, doesn't crash and "the stars align" at the Tour, his dad expects to see his son wearing yellow soon, too.

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